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Korngold’s Die tote Stadt in Australian Premiere at Sydney Opera House

Jul. 23, 2012

Korngold’s <em>Die tote Stadt</em> in Australian Premiere at Sydney Opera House

On June 30, Erich Wolfgang Korngolds’ operatic masterpiece Die tote Stadt (The Dead City) was honored with its long-awaited Australian Premiere, presented by Opera Australia at the landmark Sydney Opera House. An intense psychological study in which a man's obsession with his dead wife threatens his sanity, Die tote Stadt is a harrowing mix of hallucinatory fantasy and painful reality that has been compared to Hitchcock's Vertigo. Based on the novel Bruges-la-Morte by Georges Rodenbach, this emotionally gripping, visually arresting trip into the dark side of a troubled psyche features a voluptuous, colorful score reminiscent of both Puccini and Richard Strauss. Christian Badea conducted the musical forces with stage direction by Bruce Beresford and the production featured renowned soloists Stefan Vinke and Cheryl Barker in stunning turns as Paul and Marie/Mariette. The Aussie premiere production ran from June 30 through July 18.

In a feat of acoustic and concert hall daring and innovation, the massive orchestra (the score calls for an orchestra of 88 musicians) for Die tote Stadt was displaced from the opera theater's pit and instead The Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra performed in the studio outside the theater with the music broadcast over the theater’s PA system. This was all planned as a result of the theater’s notoriously small orchestra pit and well publicized acoustic issues, and this displacement did nothing to diminish the effect of the opera and the music, as these critics attest:

Any scepticism about this off-site experiment quickly evaporates. The sound design is natural and well-balanced, capturing the clarity, definition and textural detail one would expect in live performance. In fact, Korngold's imaginative sound-world is more evocative in this setting than if the orchestra were in the cramped pit. It is like listening to a film soundtrack in surround sound… The focus is kept on Korngold's opulent music, full of sumptuous string lines and evocative woodwind figures. It is also highly changeable, rapidly alternating between surging waves of energy and languid repose.
       - Murray Black writes, The Australian

Bruce Beresford'sAustralian premiere of Die tote Stadt follows on from last year's acclaimed production Of Mice and Men and marks another stunning collaboration with Opera Australia. [The orchestra’s performing from The Studio is] a gamble that pays off, with the music that is piped into the Opera Theatre of a very high quality…  Die tote Stadt is a beautifully designed production with a strong emotional pull, and fans of both Beresford's film and stage work will not come away disappointed.
       - Helen Machalias, Australian Stage

The sound design is so crisp that if you hadn’t been told, and were sitting a long way from the stage, you might not even realize the orchestra was playing from a different room. It’s just as good, if not better than the real thing. It’s that sound that allows you to be swept up in the lush brilliance of Erich Korngold’s score, without ever thinking about the technical side of the show... the star of the show is clearly the music. The Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra capture every nuance and the expression of Korngold’s score perfectly under Christian Badea’s baton. Die tote Stadt is a technical triumph. But the reason why it is triumphant is the way technology has been seamlessly integrated into a 1920 opera. Opera Australia should be commended for pushing the boundaries and ultimately enriching a beautiful and intriguing opera.
       - Benjamin Neutze, Aussie Theatre

Learn more on the life and work of Erich Wolfgang Korngold at www.schott-music.com.

Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Die tote Stadt (1916-1919)
an opera in three acts
libretto (Ger) by Paul Schott after the novel by Georges Rodenbach
for 2S, A, 3T, 2B; SATB Chorus
3(2pic)2 .ca.2.bcl.2.cbsn -4.3.btp in C.3.1-4timp.perc-2hp.cel.pno.harm.mand-str.
on stage: organ.2tp.2cl.perc
145'

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